kirk minihane

Time for Jerry Remy to go

On its own, it is absurd to claim that someone should lose his job simply because of the misdeeds of an adult son or daughter. There is and should be, in the end, personal accountability.

Jared Remy is the worst of the worst, the living, breathing advertisement for the death penalty. We knew, after what was reported following the murder of Jennifer Martel, that this was an evil bastard, just unsalvageable garbage. If you knew the details of the crime -- Remy allegedly assaulted and then stabbed Martel multiple times with their 4-year-old daughter in the house -- you figured it wasn't possible to think less of this monster.

That changed Sunday with the publication of Eric Moskowitz's front-page story in The Boston Globe, which provided a truly horrifying account of Jared Remy's past: nearly 100 encounters with police, a criminal defendant 19 times, a lengthy history of beating women -- Remy has consistently been in trouble with the law for nearly 20 years. And his total amount of time in prison (before the Martel murder) for these actions? Eighty-one days, a spectacular, unconscionable failure by our justice system, a collective group that should feel immense guilt for the death of Martel.

Jerry Remy has no criminal record. He never struck Martel or Tiffany Guyette or Ryan McMahon, the other girlfriends who said they took a beating from Jared Remy. Jerry Remy never sucker-punched guys at parties or beat 15-year-old John Lloyd to the point where he was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries (Lloyd survived the beating but sunk into a depression before committing suicide seven years later), never attacked pregnant women. That, we learned from the Globe story, was Jared Remy.

It's absurd to claim that someone should lose his job simply because of the misdeeds of an adult son.

But it's time for Jerry Remy to leave NESN.

Why? Well, television is different. Entertainment is different. These guys are held to a different standard -- not higher, but different. We watch to get away from this stuff, not to be sucked into the middle of it. If Jerry Remy were a high school teacher or worked at the post office, he'd never lose his job over this. But it's going to be an impossibly tough sell for NESN to put Remy on TV night after night with what we now know.

Also there's this, fair or not: Jerry Remy enabled this behavior. He paid for Jared Remy's cars, houses, cell phones, vacations, bail money. Jared Remy had one job that we know of as an adult (and we'll get to that) -- so how was he able to purchase steroids for years and years? And who furnished him with A-list attorneys who were able, time and time again, to keep Jared Remy out of jail?

Would most fathers do the same, given the resources? Maybe, though it's fair to wonder if most fathers would continue to fund a 34-year-old man with a frightening history of assault against women. But most fathers aren't on TV for four hours a night 162 times a year. Most fathers aren't in the business of escapism. Most fathers aren't hawking restaurants and other products.

Remy's presence is going to take away from the broadcast. It's a massive distraction by any definition, we all know that. And it's only going to get worse -- you think the Globe's account is going to be the only story? There is a custody case starting this week (the guess here is the Remys aren't going to win that one) and then a trial and very possibly a civil suit by the Martel family against the Remys. There may be stories about arm-twisting and promises and all kinds of terrible things that are being whispered about in various circles as we speak.

This is the world. We know how it'll end, right? And these are the last days of this as a local story -- get ready for The New York Times and "Dateline" and "20/20" and all the rest. It's going downhill at about 100 mph. And who knows when it strikes next? We aren't even at Opening Day and we've already had one game-changing story. Raise your hand if you think we're done.

Remy isn't going to quit. He must have known some of this was coming when he decided to return this year. Nope, this is up to NESN. Not sure how it's handled -- Remy is signed through 2017, according to reports -- but it has to be done quickly. Arrive at a settlement, tell him to take the year off, figure something out. NESN has shown an inability to quickly solve problems that were obviously heading its way, so my confidence level is low.

(Quick aside: To compare this to Jenny Dell is foolish, of course. She made a decision, kept it private knowing it wasn't one her bosses would agree with and in fact would discourage, and paid for it. Remy returned with his bosses fully aware of his situation. This doesn't vindicate Dell at all or make the reassignment any less correct.)

Jared Remy had an army of enablers: judges, lawyers, his friends, the Red Sox (who get a mostly free pass in the Globe story -- stunner -- but Remy worked as a security guard at Fenway when he was arrested and jailed for 81 days for breaking Ryan McMahon's nose and dragging her down a flight of stairs in 2005; when he was released from prison, the job with the Sox was still his until he was fired in 2008 during a steroid investigation), but led by his family. A pathetic legal system and Jerry Remy's name and money kept Jared Remy out of jail, and now he stands charged with Jennifer Martel's murder.

And in Jerry Remy's business, that's enough to lose your job. Time for Remy to step aside and make things easier for NESN and its viewers. It might not be fair, but it's reality.

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